ios

I simply refuse to choose, I use both. I do use iOS on my iPhone 5s and I am quite happy with that. I own an iPad which I am also quite happy with and a whole plethora of Android devices ranging from a Nexus 7 1st gen tablet to various Gameing tablets like the GameMID from Edo Waisfisz I wrote about earlier. And lately even my old Netbook and a desktop PC have joined the fold and turned into Android devices with help of Android on x86. So while it now is possible to install Android on regular PCs it is not possible to do the same with iOS although its big brother OS X does. It is possible to install OS X on generic PC hardware but that requires a lot of computer knowledge. [Read more]

Android has become a very good and solid operating system sporting all sorts of multimedia and gaming apps. Mobile gaming relying on the touch interface or using the gyroscopes often is frowned upon by more hard core gamers who feel the need for physical controls. (Read more)

My Nintendo Wii U (2013)I've been quiet on the blog front of late as I've been focused on writing three new books for 2013 (and hopefully do what I can to help get the documentary out as well). However, with the latest NPD figures for videogame consoles being dissected across the Web-o-sphere, and Sony likely firing the next salvo for next generation platforms with their upcoming PlayStation-centric announcement (and Microsoft to follow soon thereafter), I thought this would a good time to break my silence and chime in with my perspective on the current videogame-centric happenings.

First off, it's clearly not looking good for pure videogame stuff with three lackluster hardware launches in a row: 3DS, Vita, and Wii U. The 3DS recovered sufficiently with a dramatic price cut that was very much against Nintendo's previous corporate policies that discouraged losing money on hardware, which allowed it enough time to hold out for the software situation to pick up. While it will never reach the sales heights of the blockbuster DS, considering how much competition both direct and indirect there is now versus then, it should still end up selling quite well when it has run through its complete lifecycle.

Freshly released Vectrex Emulator running on iOS available in the app store. The app itself is free but actual games are available in a pack and that is about 5-6 Euros. The app is available world wide. Sadly no word of an Android version of the app which should be very possible as the Android and iPad hardware really aren't that different and Android tablets should be able to manage something like this well. Read more below...

You may remember my interviews with Sandy Petersen a few episodes back. In case you missed them, here's what you need to know: This is the guy that did the Cthulhu games for Chaosium back in 1981--pen and paper games that are still being enjoyed today. Now he's back with a Kickstarter project called Cthulhu World Combat, a turn-based strategy game based on H.P. Lovecraft's twisted mindscapes.

Microsoft SurfaceAs we're all all too aware, the tablet market has been dominated by Apple since the April 2010 introduction of the first iPad. While there have been several quality Android tablets released to compete since, outside of pure budget plays like the Kindle Fire that all but ignore the presence of its operating system, they've failed to make much of an impact with the masses. Other tablets like HP's TouchPad and RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook suffered from corporate indifference with the former and corporate incompetence with the latter. What this has all led to is a competitive vacuum that Microsoft seems poised to fill with their surprisingly well-kept-secret announcement event yesterday.

While we were expecting a Microsoft-branded tablet to leverage its well regarded Xbox branding, instead Microsoft recycled the Surface table name (which is now PixelSense) for its two-pronged tablet attack. Surprisingly, for Microsoft of recent vintage outside of its Xbox stuff, the unveiling was spectacular and sure-footed. Not only did Microsoft pull an Apple with the secrecy and subsequent excitement surrounding the event, they clearly pulled together an A team of designers and engineers to manufacture tablets that even Cupertino's famed group would surely be proud to call their own, right down to the clever cover designs.

They say if you want something done right, do it yourself, and Microsoft clearly has taken that to heart, joining Apple in controlling the entire tablet eco-system, and, unlike HP or RIM, seemingly doing so with conviction. Obviously Microsoft will still let just about anyone else create Windows 8 tablets and hybrids, but the bar has been raised to the point where any type of half-hearted effort will look foolish in comparison and destined for failure.

My, how plans change. I was all but dead set on waiting for Windows 8 to come out and then getting a new kick butt PC, but the more the Windows 8 story has publicly evolved, the more I realize that that's probably not a direction I want to go. This led me to go on a search for a new PC now, one that I've decided may end up lasting me until it no longer makes sense to have the type of PC we traditionally consider "killer." Let me explain why I think this is an inevitability...

Well, I did it, I canceled my $359.96 pre-order of the Sony PlayStation Vita - WiFi, ModNation Racers: Road trip, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, and Hot Shots Golf on Amazon. It's not because it was too much money - it was - but I planned for it. It's not that I don't want it either - I do - but it simply doesn't make sense at this time. I have long gone on record - much to the chagrin of the Nintendo faithful - that I believe this is the last generational hurrah for dedicated gaming handhelds. In short, I believe they will still sell well this generation, just not anywhere near the heights of the last generation when the DS and PSP ruled the roost. I've given many reasons for this line of thinking, but I primarily chalk it up to smartphones and tablets being good enough as game machines and the inclination for most people to carry as few electronic devices as possible. In other words, would you rather have a device that does everything multimedia and Internet effortlessly (and, as a smartphone, makes phone calls and texts), and has inexpensive apps (and a great camera for stills and video, etc.), as well as plays good games, or would you rather have a device that plays really good games (thanks mostly to onboard physical controls), but is mediocre (or incapable) at everything else and has expensive apps? Some of us will have both, but many of us will only choose the most logical of the two. If you look at the issue without the emotion of a dedicated gamer, there really is no good argument for having anything other than a smartphone and maybe a tablet in your portable arsenal, particularly since the former has an excuse to be with you 100% of the time.

I got an iCade because I was able to download iMame from iTunes when it was up there momentarily just before it was pulled from the service. It is possible to add more games to it and it allows your iPhone, iPod or iPad to function as a Mame tablet. Combine it with the iCade and you can turn it into a cheap Mame Cabinet. I am thinking about doing a proper sit down mame cab sometime in the future though but this will suffice for now.

Now I own the white rimmed iPad2 - they were fresh out of black ones when I went to go get one and I think the black rimmed iPad2 would look even better in this iCade cab. :P

If you have jailbroken your device it is possible to download the Mame4All package and run that instead. Mind you the iPad 2 still is not possible to be jailbroken. I have an iPad2 and an iPhone4 and both work great with this iCade cabinet. It is also possible to use this blue tooth arcade stick with Android tablets running a version of Mame compatible with this too :P
so it is not iOS only!http://code.google.com/p/imame4all/